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Friday, November 12, 2010

Thank you so much to everyone who has already responded to our call for help at the Youth Farm after the freak October hail storm. While we lost $2k in produce, we are over halfway toward recuperating the damages: your total contributions are currently $1130!

The night the infamous hailstorm hit Brooklyn, I have to admit that I was staring out the window in awe of mother nature and thinking how other-worldly hail that size looks. As I thought about the farm, I had no idea the extent of damage I would find the next morning.

My morning was surreal. I am co-teaching a 10th grade health class on the farm, and our curriculum that morning was to harvest beans, okra, and tomatoes for the farmers market the next day. I was so busy setting up tools and equipment for the students that I barely noticed in my peripheral vision that the farm was looking a lot more barren and a lot less green than usual. In my hurried preparation, I didn't have time to take stock.

The students came out on the farm excited to harvest for the first time. We circled up and I opened my mouth to start the lesson when Jodi interrupted me, 'What happened?!' And then the jokes started, 'It looks like someone took a machine gun and mowed the farm down.' Finally, the question that shook me into reality, 'Wasn't there lettuce in these beds? Where'd it go?'

Every moment is an educational moment, but this was NOT the one I had hoped for that morning. We wandered around, took stock of the situation, and managed to harvest some beans among the ruins.

Afterwards, I flew to California to present BK Farmyards alongside the Buckminster Fuller Institute at the Bioneers conference. I had a heavy heart, and I was sad that I could do nothing to help clean up the farm from the other side of the country. But then, I started to see donations come in from people wishing us and the project well, and my heavy heart turned into amazement. I wanted to reach out and give Brooklyn a big hug from afar, but it wasn't just Brooklynites who were donating. People around the world were sending us love and their hard-earned cash to help us through this freak occurrence.

So this is my digital hug to all our supporters. We are blessed. If you haven't yet donated, we would love to raise the remaining $870. This was income that we worked hard for and were counting on for this year. Any amount helps. Please consider donating here.